Check out your energy provider’s website. Do they offer tools, tips and incentives to better manage your electricity consumption? Nowadays, it is commonplace for utility companies to have a page dedicated to educating customers and other stakeholders about responsible energy use, or providing specific incentives and customer tools like rebates and carbon footprint calculators. But how else are businesses using social marketing principles to address large residential energy footprints?

Horizon Utilities Corporation recognized that classic marketing strategies, like direct mail, did not work as well as they should at helping consumers save money and energy. So Horizon relied on GIS technology to develop an energy-density mapping tool that allows the organization to carefully target their marketing efforts to specific groups of consumers and in essence significantly boost participation in energy conservation programs.

We all want to fit in, even if that means reusing a hotel towel. At least, that is what a 2010 study found. So, can businesses use social norms to their advantage?

Opower, an energy information software company, leverages the power of a smiley face to address residential energy consumption in the US and the UK. The company mails personalized home energy reports that contain individualized information about a customer’s usage, and an energy-saving grade of that customer relative to neighbours. Two smiley faces is well above average, one smiley face is just above average, and no smiley faces is below average. The comparisons were well received. In some cases customers wanted to compare their energy use against that of friends and family members in other parts of the country! In the first two years, the Opower program (including all of the partner utilities in the U.S. and in the U.K.) saved more than 690 gigawatt hours.

GOING FORWARD

Corporate Culture’s study suggests that behaviour change campaigns are not going away. In fact, 94% of organizations believe behaviour change is important in achieving long-term success. What’s more, we see below, that there is an emphasis on campaigns that prioritize reducing waste, recycling more, and saving energy.

Organizations Behaviour Change Priorities by Action and Audience

Unlike government, or non-profit social marketing campaigns, Corporate Social Marketing is in it’s infancy. So, I suspect that we will see a lot more businesses with energy saving products or services using Corporate Social Marketing in the future.

Post your predictions in the comment section.

What energy saving policy, program, product or service will be the next big thing in social marketing?